DAREDEVIL #158: The First Frank Miller Issue (1978)

Frank Miller started working on Daredevil in the middle of an arc about Black Widow and crazy animal-men and Heather Glenn. He was brought in because things were getting chilly with Gene Colan (and many other longtime Marvel creators) as the company was sold and Jim Shooter became unapologetically corporate.

On the splash page, it says: “From time to time a truly great new artist will explode upon the Marvel scene like a bombshell! … [The creative team] confidently predict newcomer–Lanky Frank Miller is just such an artist!”

After the splash, the first few panels (above) immediately show how different Miller is from his predecessors: Look at the focus on motion. When the villain jerks her hair, you can see her head moving–even though there’s no motion lines in the panel. Look at the way her thigh curves in and tucks her shin, in the top panel, to provide support for her kick. Even Natasha’s clothes seem to move.